Tag: Fischler College of Education & School of Criminal Justice

Education Alumna Publishes Two Children’s Books

A Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice graduate is celebrating the publishing of two children’s books she co-authored with her husband, Manswell Peterson.

Latonya Peterson graduated from NSU with her M.S. in Criminal Justice, and her Ed.D. in Organizational Leadership. She currently works fulltime as a Criminal Justice professor at American InterContinental University.

In that role, she has published articles and even a victimology book. However, she recently stepped into a different kind of writing role: that of a children’s author.

Alongside her husband, Peterson wrote two children’s books: “Braylen The Bear & Friends: Forever Friends” and “Braylen The Bear & Friends: Snow Fight.”

“It took about a year for me to actually write the book. I had to sit down, go over research trying to decide what I wanted the plot to be, but we finally published,” she said.

The two books follow the adventures of a young bear named Braylen. The first book, “Forever Friends” covers topics of friendship, sharing and helping each other. The second book, “Snow Fight” focuses on the building new friendships.

Latonya Peterson

Peterson said her motivation was her love for children and desire to create something for them. The titular character, Braylen, is also inspired Peterson’s own 11-year-old son Braylen.

“He would go, check out books and the stories were always interesting to me, and I was like, ‘One day, I’m going to write a book.’”

Well, after a year-long process, Peterson achieved her goal. The first book was published in late October and the second book was published on Nov. 1, her son’s 11th birthday.

“He was very excited about that,” she said. “He’s read both of them and I really love doing it for kids.”

Peterson said her husband will likely keep the series going and that while she did enjoy the project, she doesn’t have any immediate plans to write any other books.

“If I do in the future, it will be years from now,” she laughed.

Congratulations Latonya Peterson! We love to see you doing what you love!

Posted 11/20/22

Education Professor Named FAMTE Mathematics Educator of Year

Hui Fang Huang (Angie) Su, Ed.D., professor with the Department of Education in the Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice

Hui Fang Huang (Angie) Su, Ed.D., professor with the Department of Education in the Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice has received new recognition from the Florida Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators (FAMTE).

Su was named the state’s Mathematics Teacher Educator of the Year for 2022.

The Board of Directors for the FAMTE established the award, and the honor is given annually with recognition of the recipient at the annual meeting of FAMTE during the Florida Council of Teachers of Mathematics (FCTM) yearly conference.

The award aims to recognize an individual for excellence in teaching, research, and service.

Su was nominated by Joseph Furner, a fellow mathematics education colleague at Florida Atlantic University.

“I have been impressed by her active involvement, excitement, and passion for improving mathematics instruction in our state over the years,” Furner said. “When I look at anything math or technology education-related, I always see Angie’s name on the board, and she is so active in doing so much in Florida for our discipline. She is the energizer bunny of math education! “

Su is no stranger to being recognized for her incredible work. In 2018, she received the NSU President’s Distinguish Professor of the Year. Also, she was named the 2013 recipient of the Visionary Award for Distinguished Leadership from the Florida Distance Learning Association.

Congratulations on your award Angie Su! Thank you so much for being an incredible professor and leader!

Posted 11/20/22

Ninth-Grade Girls Get Hands-On STEM Experience

A group of 9th-grade girls is getting a hands-on experience in the world of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics.

Thanks to a team of professors from NSU’s Abrham S. Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice and the Halmos College of Arts and Sciences, 35 students at SLAM Palm Beach High School are getting in-depth sessions in topics of biology, physics, chemistry, engineering, mathematics, and various art forms.

The project is led by Hui Fang (Angie) Su, Project PI; Jia Borror, Project Co-PI; and Teri Williams, Project Co-PI. Also involved in giving some of the presentations are Julie Torruellas Garcia, Arthur Sikora, Yueting Wan.

Students’ STEM awareness and interest were measured at the beginning of the project. They will again be calculated at the end, along with their knowledge and understanding of the engineering sub-field of STEM.

One such activity hosted by Williams focused on Creative Thinking and tasked the girls with working together to design and make a paper airplane. The activity blended the worlds of art and science to create something distinguishable and functional.

Another activity focused on Botany and Painting, where the girls looked closely at the flowers and examined them as scientists before drawing and painting them.

In addition to the various demonstrations, the girls will also get to tour NSU’s labs and campus.

The project’s overall goal is to use this experience to increase the high school girls’ perception and awareness of the STEM field and carry this interest into their college years and beyond.

Posted 11/06/22

Education Professor Receives Visionary Award for Distinguished Leadership

Anymir Orellana, Ed.D.

Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice Professor Anymir Orellana, Ed.D., is the recipient of the Visionary Award for Distinguished Leadership from the Florida Distance Learning Association.

The award recognizes a leader who has demonstrated commitment in the field of education and has made significant contributions to distance learning in the organization.

Orellana said upon learning of the award, she was honored and excited. However, she also voiced her immense gratitude for her friend and colleague Gabriela Mendez, the person who nominated her for the recognition.

Orellana said she wanted to thank Mendez publicly.

“Not very many have good friends who take time to nominate you and appreciate you in such a way,” she said. “I thank her, and I thank the committee.”

Mendez said she nominated Orellana because she motivates her and others to constantly improve their online courses.

“As a great academic, she is always reading and learning about new topics and shares her knowledge with her colleagues by teaching us how to use technology and how to organize our courses. Dr. Orellana and I challenge each other to think beyond how teaching online is today to envision how it could be to benefit all students. Dr. Anymir Orellana is an inspiration to her colleagues and students.”

Orellana joins others from NSU to receive this distinction. In 2021, NSU President Dr. George Hanbury was granted the award, and in 2013, the award was received by FCESCJ Professor Hui Fang Huang “Angie” Su.

Orellana will be recognized at the FDLA/FAMTE 2022 virtual conference to be held in February 2023.

Posted 11/06/22

Education Professor Gets Award From Haitian Studies Association

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice Professor Charlene Desir, Ed.D., has been selected to receive the 2022 Award for Service by the Haitian Studies Association (HSA).

Charlene Desir, Ed.D.

Desir was presented with the HSA Service Award at the Association’s 34th Annual Conference in Washington D.C.

The award honors a person or organization in recognition of years of dedication and service to the Haitian Studies Association, the field of Haitian Studies, or to the people of Haiti.

“The steadfast commitment you have shown to the academic, psycho-social and spiritual development of Haitian immigrants and other disenfranchised populations in both the U.S. and Haiti have earned you this special recognition,” the organization said.

Desir has been a part of the organization since she was a first year-student in college at Tufts University. She went on to serve as the HSA’s youngest president in 2012.

She said she first encountered them while walking on campus after a rather dejecting experience in class.

“And I saw a sign that said, ‘Haitian Studies Association, an Academic Conference on the Study of Haiti’ and I walked in. I just walked in; I wasn’t registering– nothing. I walked in and sat down. And that’s how it began. And I stayed there until this day.”

Desir said the association has been there for pivotal moments of her academic career, through the earning of her degrees and she even published her first paper in their journal.

The organization also witnessed the start of Desir’s Emerging Scholars program.

“It’s a mentoring program for undergrad and graduate students in the U.S. and Haiti that want to be an academic and study Haitian issues as part of their work,” she said.

The program is now in its 10th year, and some of the scholars even came out to watch Desir receive her honor.

Overall, Desir said the honor was incredibly special to her.

“As an academic, to be recognized for service was really important for me, because we’re expected to publish, we’re expected to research, we’re expected to teach and to give back and to be recognized as one of the people that gave back to the institution — this academic institution, and it was recognized that I created an academic legacy plan for the organization, I think was profound.”

Congratulations Charlene Desir and thank you for all your hard work!

Posted 10/23/22

Education Alum Accepted Into Aspiring Assistant Principal Program

Coi Lazier

A Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice graduate has been accepted into a prestigious program thanks to a project she did during her studies.

Coi Lazier recently graduated in June with her M.S. in Educational Leadership. During one of her final courses, the Leadership Symposium, she was tasked with developing an initiative that could potentially be used in a future interview process.

Lazier chose a project that dealt with children’s exposure to culturally relevant text.

“We had to identify a problem using data, then determine how to monitor that data, and then come up with an action plan,” Lazier said.

Lazier began by visiting a school and evaluating its classroom libraries and curriculum. In doing so, she recognized that minority students weren’t represented in the texts being used.

“I tied that back into their academia, and that could have been one of the root causes why kids were not engaged in the lesson,” Lazier said.

Lazier then developed a plan, and after working with the school and teachers, she proposed alternative texts for use.

“In doing that, I was able to track and monitor data to see if students were making progress as a result of incorporating culturally relevant texts during the literacy and social studies blocks. And to my surprise, the students in grades 3-5 made over 15% growth in ELA after I analyzed their iReady Diagnostic, district (Florida Standards Quizzes), and Florida Standards Assessment data. I was genuinely stunned at how much culturally relevant texts had such a great impact on student growth and behavior in just one trimester.

Lazier then used the initiative she designed to help her during an interview for the Palm Beach Aspiring Assistant Principal program, a program she has since been accepted to.

“During my entrance interview into the Aspiring Assistant Principal Program I was able to use the experience that I gained from the project that I worked on during the Symposium class at Nova to answer a question about a time when I developed an initiative to support student learning and build teacher capacity,” she said.

Lazier said she is incredibly thankful to both Nova and Drs. Maria Grethel Mendez and Gabriela Mendez for their assistance in helping her achieve her goals.

Lazier said she doesn’t plan to stop with the end of the program. She hopes to serve as an assistant principal, then principal, and one day become an Instructional Superintendent. In between, she said she also plans to start her Doctorate in Educational Leadership at NSU.

Congratulations Coi! Fins up to you!

Posted 10/23/22

Sociodrama Club Presents Programs on Suicide Prevention

NSU’s Sociodrama Club: Stage for Change presented two powerful programs in light of Suicide Prevention in September.

The first program, titled “How Can I Help?” was held Sept. 17 at the Museum of Discovery and Science in downtown Fort Lauderdale for the United Way. The performance was hosted and facilitated by Drs. Grace Telesco and Maribel Del Rio-Roberts, faculty members with NSU’s Abraham S. Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice.

The program focused on factors and interventions for teen suicide. Inside the audience were both adolescents and adults. However, at the end of the program, an audience member approached the group and let them know that the performance gave her a tremendous amount of hope.

That moment alone demonstrated the impact of these programs and held true to one of Dr. Telesco’s common messages: “The important work of the sociodrama ensemble is helping save lives!”

Days later, on Sept. 21, the group, along with Dr. Telesco and Dr. Maria Levi-Minzi, Assistant Professor, NSU’s Abraham S. Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice, traveled to Port St. Lucie where they presented and facilitated the program “What’s Wrong with Joe?” at the Treasure Coast 2022 Child Summit.

This program highlighted effective crisis intervention and trauma informed strategies for a child sexual survivor.

Audience members and participants for this program were local law enforcement, victim advocates, medical professionals, and social workers.

Both programs were filmed and are available to be viewed online, along with a host of other powerful performances. To watch “How Can I Help?”, click here. To watch “What’s Wrong with Joe?”, click here.

For more information on NSU’s Sociodrama Club, please reach out to Dr. Grace Telesco at: gt243@nova.edu.

Posted 10/09/22

Education Professors Publish a Paper on Teaching Autistic Students

Two professors from the Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice have published a new article.

The article, Teaching Math to Preschool Children with Autism, was published by Hui Fang Huang “Angie” Su, Ed.D., and Jia Borror, Ed.D.

The paper, published by the World Academy of Science, Engineering, and Technology, focuses on effective ways for educators to teach math to preschool children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).

The study examined two different methods of teaching preschoolers with ASD at a preschool. One method used a combination of discrete trial teaching and Strategies for Teaching Based on Autism Research (STAR). That method was the regular math curriculum utilized at the preschool.

The second method was a naturalistic teaching method called Project MIND – Math is Not Difficult.

The teaching methods were randomly assigned to four classrooms with students with ASD, and then after three months, the student’s knowledge of mathematics subjects was evaluated.

To read the complete study, click here.

Posted 10/09/22

Education Professor Interviews With Fortune Magazine

David B. Ross, Ed.D.

David B. Ross, Ed.D., professor, with the Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice was recently featured in a Fortune Education article titled, “Who Should Get an Ed.D. in Organizational Leadership?”

The aptly named article focuses on the Organizational Leadership Ed.D. programs at Nova Southeastern University and Baylor University for various students who may choose to earn such a degree.

During the hour-plus long interview with Fortune, Ross gave a bit of insight into the types of students he has encountered academically over the years in the program.

“I said ‘We have teachers, we have nurses, military, and students from various professions and organizations – [Organizational Leadership] can be for anybody because an organization is an organization,’” he recalled.

Ross mentioned how the course work in the program is designed to be relevant in order to prepare a student to be a leader in any field and even help build their portfolio — from the papers they write, to their option of the Strategic Research Project or dissertation as a final Capstone.

“The Strategic Research Project would be good for people who [say] ‘Nope, I do not want to be a college/university professor, so do I really need a dissertation? Probably not.’” Then I kind of went into about how it helps build solutions, strategies, and possible outcomes, and later could be implemented into the organization when they finish.” “It should be noted that we want the student to make a clear decision of which Capstone pathway will be in their best interest.”

Overall, Ross said his goal was to really explain that the degree can be used by anyone who wishes to diversify themselves or just be a better leader in an organization, no matter what the organization may be.

“It is a kind of catch-all in a way,” he said. “It attracts people from any field. Like I said before, an organization is an organization.”

He also added that students learn in the program that not just any organization is successful, but a learning organization that grows and adapts is one that is successful while allowing the employees to be inspired to take risks. A learning organization encourages their people to be creative problem solvers and decision makers through a lens with vision, collaboration, trust, and more.

To read the full Fortune article, click here.

Posted 09/25/22

Retired Education Alum Continues to Inspire Next Generation

Elaine Saef, graduate of NSU’s Abraham S. Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice has dedicated more than 30 years in the field of education. Starting as a teacher, she ultimately served as a principal in the Broward County School system.

Elaine Saef

In that time, she also earned her M.S. in Educational Leadership from NSU. But recently, after dedicating so much time to inspiring generations of students, she retired. But she wasn’t finished. She has since taken on a role as an Internship Supervisor with the Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice.

Internship supervisors are Education professionals who mentor aspiring educators during their final semester as they work in a real school classroom. It’s a role that Saef holds dear.

“I actually was very excited for being a graduate of NSU, and then the opportunity to still have my hands in education,” she said.

In her role, Saef serves as part of the student’s support system as they work in the classroom. She observes them in the classroom and offers feedback to the student and the teacher, along with guiding them and offering recommendations and resources.

One thing Saef hopes to teach her students before they go out into the field is to make sure you never lose that caring spirit.

“You have to make your classroom welcoming and a caring and nurturing environment, and that environment and the way you make the students feel – if they feel welcomed and nurtured, they’re going to want to do anything in the world for you,” she said.

Saef mentored several students during the Winter semester. This Fall, she is once again mentoring students in the classroom, but also taking part in a new program called GoReact which will allow her to also mentor students from a distance.

The system works by recording the students as they are in the classroom, and Saef can then watch the recording and offer virtual feedback and resources.

“It’s really cool,” Saef said. “I can be anywhere in the world and still be able to supervise without having to physically go to the school.”

Overall, Saef said the role is a way of giving back to both NSU and Broward Schools.

“Being able to go back and help these students from NSU now that may possibly become a Broward County teacher just sort of completes the cycle to give back to the system that created who I became as an adult,” she said. “To be able to give back to that system is really cool — and especially it being NSU, because I graduated from NSU, so I’m giving back to the school that helped me.”

Posted 09/28/22

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